


Getting Away

by RWBYsinner



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Character Death, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Will add more tags as fic progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-11 14:37:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20547800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RWBYsinner/pseuds/RWBYsinner
Summary: With the Evil Horde defeated and the Sword of Protection gone; Adora finds herself at a loss with what to do with herself. She'd been a soldier her entire life and now that the war is over she's found herself in an existential crisis. Who is she without an enemy to fight? Without She-Ra's "destiny" to guide her through her life? Luckily for her, an old friend has the perfect idea to Adora get out of her head and away from her worries. But what happens when this idea means leaving all of her friends behind? Can she simply walk away from the Rebellion and the life she's made with them, or will her call as Etheria's protector be too tempting for her to simply "let go?"





	1. An End and Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a nice little idea I came up with after the anxiety raising events of Season 3. Something to help me get away from the angst and back to some good old and wholesome Catradora fluff. Truthfully I have written nothing in probably six or seven years so this might be ripe with errors, rushed events, and ooc-ness; So I apologize ahead of time for that. With all of that out of the way; I hope you enjoy this!

Horde Prime roared in pain as the sword of protection pierced his chest. His armor doing little to stop the blade’s thrust backed by the Princess of Power’s enhanced strength. “Curse you She-Ra,” growled the mortally wounded conqueror. “Even if you kill me, you’ll never be able to stop the Horde from eradicating Etheria. I have countless clones more than prepared to assume control of my fleets and continue bringing the galaxy under my banner.” The gray-skinned man stopped his rant for a moment, taking a pained gasp and attempting to regain what little breath he could before he glared back up at the glowing warrior with his own glowing yellow eyes. “The battle may be over, but the war will never end so long as fools like you and your friends continue to resist my rule.”

She-Ra’s steely gaze never wavered through the large man’s threat. “You might be right about us not being able to defeat the Horde, but that’s why we aren’t going to fight them,” she stated with conviction. “You’re also right that a clone of yours will take control of you forces.”

“And they will follow my orders to erase you from existence!” Horde primed attempted to yell but was forced quieter by the blade still protruding from his body.  
“No, he won’t,” replied She-Ra with a small smirk. “Because Hordak will be controlling your fleet.”

“Hordak is one of my most loyal subordinates. He will not betray his creation for this world’s pitiful inhabitants,” stated Horde Prime.

“He already has,” informed She-Ra. “Thanks to Entrapta’s help and friendship, he’s seen that there’s more to his life than senseless domination and loyalty to someone who sent him to his death because he showed weakness. As we speak, he’s ordering your ships out of orbit, using your own defeat as a way to question your rule. It’s over,” she finished, meeting the warlord’s fiery glare with her own steely gaze.

Horde prime laughed quietly. “Very clever She-Ra, it would appear that your legends weren’t simple fabrications of a frightened and worthless people.” An unsettling silence filled the space between them; seemingly drowning out the various battles that continued to rage around them. Suddenly, the large man sprang forward, clutching She-Ra by the throat as his armor began to beep a piercing tone. “But your legend WILL end here. Even if it costs me my own life; I’ll ensure that you’ll never experience this world of peace that you’ve so wished for your allies!”

She-Ra gasped under the crushing pressure of iron grip. She tried to wretch his hand free, but her strength had been severely drained in the fight; tried to grab her sword so she could use it to escape, but Horde Prime’s arms were longer and he kept the hilt just out of her reach. Eventually her glow faded and slowly the world around the young warrior began to blur as the beeping sped up and all she could think of was the loved ones she’d never be able to see again. Glimmer, Bow, Perfuma, Mermista, Sea Hawk, Frosta, Angella, Micah, and the one that pained her the most to leave, Catr-"

“Adora!” yelled an extremely familiar voice before another voice shared its roar, the other in a vastly different pained tone. A blur of tan and orange appeared before her before an explosive force rocked the world around her and she felt herself flying backwards, both from the explosion and the feeling of something soft crashing into her. When she hit the ground, her fall was softened by the same soft object that screamed loudly in pain, but still clutched her tightly.

After the ringing in her ears subsided, her vision started to return, and air refilled her lungs. Adora groaned weakly, sat up, and shook her head to clear her thoughts before she glanced her surroundings. She was a lot closer to the Whispering Woods than she had been before and the fighting had died down significantly with the rebellion forces chasing off the remaining horde troops who retreated to their ships, no doubt to fall back to their orbiting fleet. The sounds of her friends cheering in victory filled the blonde with joy before a weak and pained groan caught her attention and she glanced down to see a burned and slightly smoking ball of fur next to her.

Everything came rushing to her all at once and she glanced over to where she’d been with Horde Prime moments before seeing a smoking crater with a somehow intact Sword of Protection laying in the middle of it; the Evil Horde leader nowhere to be seen. Adora’s eyes then ripped themselves back to the sight beside her in horror. With a tentative hand she managed to turn to burned figure enough to see that it was none other than. “Catra!” yelled Adora in panic at the gravely injured woman before her.  
Blue and yellow eyes managed to pry themselves open and slowly turned towards the panicking blonde beside her. “Hey Adora” groaned the magicat, before her eyes shut once more and her body went lax.

“Catra! Catra, please stay with me! You have to keep your eyes open please!” cried Adora. “Come on, say something snarky, berate me, make fun of Glimmer! Do something!” The terrified warrior tried to think of anything she could do before her best friend was gone forever. A shining from her side brought the woman out of her hysterical state and she turned to see the Sword of Protection shining as brightly as it had the first time, she’d discovered it. In an instant, and with as much force as she could muster Adora ran towards the sword; which she’d noticed had actually been damaged in the explosion, and screamed the words that have been etched into her very being at this point, transforming her once again into the legendary warrior goddess of power.

Letting her honed mind guide her actions, Adora allowed the stronger will of the sword to focus all her available power towards healing her wounded friend as much as she possibly could. She poured every ounce of emotion she could into the runestone in hopes that it would enhance the power further. Their childhood in the horde, friendship before the war tore them apart, tension whenever they happened to meet on the battlefield afterwards, the joy that filled her when Catra finally left the horde and began to change, and when she showed up before the final battle to fight by her side once more. All of these events allowed the sword to shine brighter than it ever had before; which drew the attention of everyone around, until it unleashed a beam of light that shot towards and consumed the gravely injured magicat, lifting her into the air in an entrancing display of wonder. The power hadn’t stopped there however as a following unstable burst of energy sent a wave of purifying energy throughout the area; the Rebellion’s forces standing in awe as whatever wounds they’d managed to occur during the battle healed before their very eyes.

Cheers rang out through the air before the light finally faded and She-Ra collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion before transforming back into Adora. The blonde glanced to the sword to find that the blade had been broken in half and its runestone cracked. She didn’t have time to mourn the seeming end of She-Ra however as her attention shot back to her critically wounded friend, who’d been caught by Catra’s best friend.

“Oh man Catra! I am just so glad that you’re safe! If I’d lost you, I’m not sure what I would’ve done. I mean, I probably would’ve returned to the Fright Zone to reclaim my family’s home, but I would’ve been so sad about it without you there and-“

“Scorpia” drawled out a tired and still pained Catra, who lay in the much larger woman’s arms.

“Yes” replied the Scorpion woman innocently as always.

“I’m going to need you to put me down. Your claw is right on my back’s burn mark,” growled Catra in slight pain.

“Oh, right” said Scorpia before she gently placed the magicat back on to her feet, only to catch said woman again when her legs nearly gave out. “Sorry, I just got so worried when you attacked Horde Prime and then put yourself between that blast for Adora. I thought you might have died, especially when Adora ran off to grab her sword and then shot a bright beam at you and you got lifted off of the ground and looked like an angel ascending to the afterlife, but then it faded and you started to fall so I caught you and you were all healed up, then-“

The larger woman was stopped when a clawed hand touched her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re alright too” stated Catra with a rare smile, and Scorpia moved towards the magicat again before that same hand was held in front of her face. “No hugs.”

Scorpia chuckled and rubbed the back of her head with her right claw; “Heh, right sorry. I’m a hugger.”

Catra smiled at that; “I know, but right now I need to find Adora.”

“Oh, she’s right over there staring at you” said Scorpia, pointing towards the blonde who’d been watching the whole exchange with an almost emotionless expression.

“Aww man,” groaned Catra, “this is going to be awkward.”

The larger woman looked confused. “Why would it be awkward? It’s not like you just showed up out of nowhere, you guys talked before the fight, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but I did just technically die in her arms a minute ago” stated Catra, before looking back to the blonde and getting promptly tackled by said person.

“Back, back, back!” screeched Catra, causing an overjoyed Adora to stop hugging the other woman and pull them up to a sitting position.

“Sorry,” apologized Adora, “I guess the sword didn’t heal you completely then.”

“It’s healed, just really sore” grumbled Catra, rubbing the large burn mark on her back.

“What were you thinking just jumping into things like that!? You could have gotten yourself killed!” yelled Adora, before she stopped to think. “Wait no, you did get yourself killed! What were you thinking!?”

“Sorry I saved your life princess, but despite past attempts I don’t actually want you dead you know!?” rebutted Catra. Before Adora could respond a single clawed finger reached out to touch her forehead. “Besides,” started Catra with a smirk, “If I wanted you dead, then do you really think I’d let someone else do it?”

Adora chuckled, “You’re unbelievable sometimes. You know that?”

Catra winked, “That’s what I’m here for princess. To pester the heck out of you.”

The two shared a laugh beneath the starry eyes of Scorpia before a bright light behind Adora hugged her “WE WON!” cheered Glimmer, her newly grown wings and still small wings flapping happily behind her. 

“Then is Hordak pulling the fleet away like he said?” asked Adora, embracing her best friend in joy.

Another set of arms wrapped around the pair adding enthusiasm to the hug. “Yup!” chirped Bow, “Entrapta just sent me a message that remainder of The Horde is falling in line and they’re all retreating back into Horde controlled space.”

The trio continued their celebratory hug until a calming voice interrupted their cheers. “Well done everyone” said Angella, with her left arm encircled around Micah’s; both looking worn out but otherwise no worse for wear.

“Hopefully now that The Horde is gone from Etheria, we can finally return to an age of peace,” said Micah. “And; you know, not have one of our family disappear every few years.”

“Speaking of family” spoke Glimmer, before she teleported herself to her parents and then all three of them into the forming group hug. The five quietly embraced each other; well, as quietly as they could with all the post-battle noise going on around them, until a sixth pair of rough clawed arms encircled around the group.

“Sorry, I’ve just got to get in on this” stated Scorpia happily. Everyone tensing for a moment before they simply shrugged and resumed the embrace. 

Adora looked at Catra standing a ways away with an uncomfortable, possibly slightly sickened, expression on her face and her arms defensively in front of herself. “Come on Catra, you too” said Adora, teasingly. The blonde laughing internally when she saw her friend flinch and turn away in defiance; the large darkened mark on her back clearly visible.

“Yeah, I’ll pass. I know we’ve been apart for a long time, but I haven’t exactly gotten all mushy since our time in The Horde.” Before the magicat could walk away however a light flashed beside Adora, then by Catra; who then disappeared, before the furred woman found herself in Adora’s; and by association everyone else’s arms and yelped. “What the-? How did-? Ahhh, watch the back!” Catra growled in frustration before turning her glare on to a certain smirking pink haired princess. “I am sooo going to get you back for this later Twinkle!”

“Just consider it your punishment for being a pain in my butt all this time and we’ll call it even,” mocked Glimmer, sticking her tongue out at the struggling girl.

“Oh, we aren’t even close to even Sparkles,” growled Catra. “Adora, let me go!”

Adora grinned and; tenderly, secured her grip around the dual eyed girl. “Nope, you’re never leaving my side again!”

Catra relaxed immediately upon hearing those words and looked over at the blonde in silent hope and fear. “You promise?”

Adora smiled back tenderly and with resolve. “I promise.”

Catra groaned. “Fine, just try not to make this hug last too long. I’ve got things to do you know.”

“Yay!” cheered Scorpia, before she squeezed harder.

“Scorpia!” shouted Catra, in to the still smoking battlefield.

\- Eight Hours Later, Castle Bright moon exterior.

Cheers and celebration rang throughout the kingdom as a massive festival rocked the land. Soldiers; both Rebellion and defected Horde, ate, sang, and danced together in joy. Sure, tomorrow they’d have to deal with the consequences of half of them having ruined most of Etheria, but they were all too overjoyed to remember that they were once enemies. Rebellion generals laughing with Force Captains, Princesses partying with Huntara’s Crimson Waste bandits. The sheer amount of people having the time of their lives here would have confused anyone who’d been hiding under a rock for the past year.

Despite all of this happiness and congratulations however, Adora just couldn’t bring herself to tear her eyes away from the Sword of Protection’s remains. The once shining blue blade now laying shattered and gray beneath her hand, and the runestone, once radiating with a warm and comforting energy was now weak and cracked. “Come on Adora! This is a party lighten up!” cheered Glimmer, trying to break her friend out of her trance.

“Yeah, we can worry about fixing the sword tomorrow. Just enjoy yourself for now! I hear that there’s going to be a troupe of performing horses later,” added Bow, before rubbing his chin in thought. “You know, assuming Swift Wind hasn’t already liberated them from their carriages.”

Adora sighed, not being able to bring her spirit back up despite her best friends’ attempts. Suddenly, a furred hand gently rested itself on her right should, just firmly enough to jolt the blonde out of her trance. “Why don’t you guys go and enjoy yourself” suggested Catra, in a firm but troubled tone. “I’ll see if I can’t help Adora cheer up. Alright?”

Adora sighed, knowing that despite the magicat’s defection that her best friends still didn’t really trust her judgement. “Alright Catra” agreed Glimmer in an equally firm yet concerned tone. “Come on Bow, let’s leave it to her.”  
“I guess” said the archer, confused as the light princess dragged him away. “Feel better Adora!”

The blonde turned her gaze up to the girl beside her to see resolve and passion in her differently colored eyes and she knew why her friends immediately agreed to her request. Those were the eyes of someone who would happily give up the world to protect what they cared about most. “Come on” said Catra, turning to walk away towards the Whispering Woods. “We need to talk.”

Adora rose quietly from her seat; the Sword of Protection’s handle still in her grasp, and followed her friend to the forest’s edge, away and out of sight from the rest of the party goers. Worried eyes trailed the duo until they disappeared into the trees and didn’t stop looking at the stop they had been until a voice spoke up. “It’ll be alright Glimmer” said Bow comfortingly. “If anyone can’t cheer Adora up, I’m sure that it’s the person who’s known her for practically her entire life.”  
“Yeah” replied Glimmer sadly, before tearing her eyes away from the tree line and back to her friends and family.

\- One Hour Later

“They still haven’t come back Bow” stated Glimmer from her seat at the main table beside her mother.

“Maybe they went to the temple?” suggested the archer. “You know, to ask Light Hope for advice of something.”

Glimmer sprang out of her seat. “I can’t just sit here and wait Bow. Not when our best friend is so depressed.”

Bow held Glimmer’s determined stare for a moment before he smiled and stood himself. “Alright then, let’s go and check up on them.”

When the pair entered the tree line however, they were immediately halted by the sight before them. There stood the Sword of Protection’s handle, jutting from the ground with a familiar red head piece leaning against what remained of the blade attached to the guard. The owners of said items nowhere to be seen or heard. Despite wanting to call out desperately for their friends, the two couldn’t bring themselves to tear their gazes away from the sight that left so many answers, but also a strong message. Glimmer collapsed to her knees as tears began to pool at the corners of her eyes and she despite her parents and friends condolences, she didn’t stop crying for the rest of the night.


	2. Lost and Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, so this chapter might admittedly seem ooc. I know that Adora and Catra aren't exactly fluffy people, but I figured that age and love could possibly change them. Anyway, hope you enjoy and please comment your thoughts if you do as I absolutely LOVE to read them.

Glimmer sighed as she opened her eyes; coming out of her memories; and glanced out at the passing lush forest. ‘I guess we’re out of the mountains then’ she thought. Their carriage had been on their way to the Kingdom of Snows for the annual Alliance meeting when they’d blocked off by an avalanche and forced to take another route around the kingdom instead. This meant passing through some canyons and a forest; which wasn’t a big deal since Glimmer had never been a fan of the cold anyway and this way a far more scenic route. ‘Not looking forward to Frosta lecturing me about arriving on time though.’

It had been in the canyons though when Glimmer decided to kill some time by letting her mind drift and she’d found herself reliving one of the most regretted moments of her life. ‘I should’ve tried harder to make her feel better. I should’ve been there for her. I shouldn’t have let Catra just drag her out of sight of everyone.’ Another heavy sigh brought Glimmer out of her own mental berating.

It’s been nearly ten years since the war’s end and as much as she hates to admit it, she can’t turn back time. Since then she’s taken over being the Queen of Brightmoon from her mother; Angella and Micah having decided to live together peacefully on the outskirts of the city. Close enough to visit and get advice from, but not so close that they can immediately show up to second guess Glimmer’s every decision. Glimmer herself had grown quite a bit; nearly rivaling her mother in height, though she still remained thicker thanks to continued training and midnight snacking and decided to keep her hair short since long hair is annoying to deal with and can get in the way during a fight. ‘Not that there’s been any real fighting in years’ thought Glimmer solemnly. ‘I’m not asking for another war or anything, but you’d think creatures from the Whispering Woods could at least cause some trouble.’

Coming out of her thoughts once more Glimmer noticed that they’d now exited the forest and entered a village. It wasn’t anything too impressive; cottages, fields, an inn, mills (both wind and water), normal village stuff. Passing through the residential part though the young queen couldn’t help but smile and wave at the enthusiastic children who ran up to her carriage for a closer look at the royalty that they probably don’t see very often in this remote corner of Etheria. It wasn’t until they’d passed by a yard with a little starry-eyed girl with tanned skin; or rather fur, dirty-blonde hair, two sets of ears, a tail, and sharp greens eyes; that Glimmer lost her smile.

“Mara come inside; dinner is ready!” shouted a woman’s voice from the home’s doorway.

“Coming mommy!” shouted the little cat-girl, taking off into the house and past her mother.

Glimmer’s eyes slowly drifted up the woman’s form until startled light blue eyes meet her own. The woman’s lip trembled, and eyes sunk before she lowered her head and hesitantly closed her door. “Stop!” shouted the queen, starling her escort.  
“But your highness, if we stop here then we’ll be late to the meeting” stated one of the guards, not even being acknowledged before their charge teleported herself out of the carriage and in front of the home’s red door. Glimmer knocked on the door gently, so as not to startle the resident’s inside, and held her breath in hope.

The same woman from before reopened the door with saddened eyes and a pained smile. “Hey Glimmer” she whispered.

Glimmer’s eyes instantly teared up and she embraced her friend. Adora had changed quite a bit herself over the years; her skin was more tanned, her hair was longer now and braided draping over her right shoulder, and her eyes had softened since the war, but this was definitely the former princess of power. “I’m so glad you’re ok” cried Glimmer.

Adora slowly returned the embrace and was probably about to reply when they were interrupted. “Are you alright your highness!” called over the guard.

Glimmer released her friend and wiped her eyes. “I’m fine!” she called back. “Just go back to that inn we passed and relax for a while! I’ll come to you when I’m ready to leave!”

The guard looked to his companions uneasily and attempted to speak up. “But- “

“Now please,” ordered Glimmer, causing her escort to uneasily accept their instructions before turning around and retreating to the building they’d passed earlier.

“Glimmer,” said Adora worriedly. “I-I’m so- “

Glimmer placed her hand on the; admittedly shorter, woman’s shoulder and smiled tenderly. “Mind if I come in?”

Adora smiled back and stepped aside to allow the royal into her home. “It’s the pretty lady mommy!” shouted the small girl, as she ran excitedly up to the towering woman.

Adora laughed, “It sure is sweetheart!”

Glimmer bent down to the little furred girl. “Why hello there little one! What’s your name?”

“I’m Mara!” replied the girl, looking to explode with excitement.

Glimmer looked back towards her friend with an arched eyebrow and a smirk. “Mara huh? That’s a nice name. Where did your mother come up with that I wonder?”

“She said it’s after a woman who saved the whole world” stated Mara, stretching her arms as far apart as she could at the word whole, in a way that made Glimmer melt.

“Hey Mara,” called Adora. “Why don’t you go and get yourself some dinner while the queen and I talk. Alright?”

“Can I eat it in the living room?” asked the girl.

“Just don’t get any food on the carpet. Ok?” said Adora, before she led Glimmer towards a cozy looking room complete with a comfortable blue couch, a red recliner, and a stone fireplace that was lit.

‘I guess being so close to the Kingdom of Snows makes fall nights cold enough for a fire’ thought Glimmer, before sitting down of the couch with Adora.

Adora stayed in an uncomfortable silence as her former friend surveyed her home. Inhaling deeply, Adora finally decided to speak up. “Glimmer I-, I’m so sorry for leaving like I did, and I understand if you can’t just forgive me easily, but please don’t tell anyone where I am.”

Glimmer’s head wiped around to look at Adora with a shocked expression. “Why don’t you want me to tell anyone?” asked the queen. “Sure, we were upset when you left, but I’m sure that they’d all forgive you when I let them know you’re at least alive.”  
“I know, and I want to see everyone else too, but I just don’t know if it would be best for me to see them” stated Adora, seemingly uncertain of her own decision.

Glimmer couldn’t believe her ears. “Why wouldn’t it be best for you to see them? They’re your friends. They would love to see you alive and happy.” Glimmer suddenly found herself getting angry once a thought crossed her mind. “Is this because of what Catra said to you that night? Did she tell you that you’d be better off without us or something because if she did then I’m going to-!”

Suddenly the front door slammed open and a breathless woman came running into the room. “Adora, Catherine told me that there were Brightmoon soldiers in the- “

Glimmer turned her glare on to the new arrival who had a shocked look in her eyes, then changed to worry for a moment, before turning to a glare of their own. “Catra” growled Glimmer. The feline woman admittedly hadn’t changed much over the years; same wild mane, same freckles dotting her face, really, she simply looked more matured than she had as a teenager.

“Glitter” replied Catra, just as aggressively before huffing. “And what, might I ask, is her majesty doing in our home?”

“Momma!” cheered Mara, running out of the kitchen with some kind of sauce on her face before leaping into the older cat-woman’s arms causing said woman to smile.

“Hey there kitten” cooed Catra, nuzzling her face against her daughter’s and subsequently smearing the sauce onto them both. The woman stopped to lick some of the sauce off of her own cheek and hummed in delight. “Mom’s made our favorite dinner huh?”

Mara grinned wholeheartedly. “Yup, Mommy knew you were coming home today so she wanted to make something special. And I helped!”

“Well it’s delicious” praised Catra, holding her daughter up to rub their noses together.

Adora couldn’t help but gush inwardly at the two most important girls in her life and was about to half heartedly tell them to go wash off their faces when she saw Glimmer out of the corner of her eye. The queen had an odd expression that somehow bordered between anger, shock, confusion, disgust, and wanting to gush herself and it made Adora laugh.

The laugh apparently knocked the two magi-cats out of their affectionate display, and they turned towards the blonde and pinkette. Cradling her Mara in her arms, Catra re affirmed her glare on the winged woman before headed to the kitchen. “Come on furball; let’s get you cleaned up.”

Adora placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder to take her out of her trance and began to apologize again when Glimmer interrupted her. “Woah hold up! I thought that Mara was your daughter? Why is she calling Catra mom? Why is she living here? Why are you making her dinner? Why is Mara calling the both of you mom?”

Adora flushed embarrassingly as she thought of her answer. “Well, Catra and I have been together for the past seven years and have been living here since. As for Mara, she’s technically Catra’s daughter that we had with a hunter in this village named Connor. It’s kind of like a reverse Bow family situation.”

“But Bow’s dads are married! Are you seriously telling me that you and Catra are- “?

“You bet Sparkles” interrupted Catra, in her usually snarky manner that Glimmer Did Not miss. The magi-cat then took a seat on the red recliner, settling Mara; who was holding a big plate of meats, veggies, and other delectables, on her lap before the two began eating.

“Don’t start Catra” growled Glimmer. “I’m still mad at you for making Adora leave us.”

“Glimmer” said Adora, calming placing her hand back on to her friend’s shoulder to turn her back to face her. “Catra didn’t force me to do anything. I chose to leave everything behind, and I wouldn’t go back on that decision.”

Glimmer felt all anger leave her body and be replaced by sadness. “But, why? Why would you just leave us like that? Without saying goodbye?”

Adora hugged her friend for moment, looking past her shoulder to a frowning Catra, who was plucking steamed carrots off of her plate with one of her nails and eating them with a disheartened expression on her face. Mara starring worriedly at the crying woman, but not really understanding the situation. “Let me explain.”

\- Ten years ago, Whispering Woods

Adora dejectedly followed Catra into the woods, broken Sword of Protection gripped in her right hand. She knew that Catra was bound to give her some big speech about how she shouldn’t feel bad about the sword or something, and was about to state that whatever she said wouldn’t work since she and She-ra were the same now and it was like losing a part of herself. Before she could however, Catra wrapped the blond up in a strong, yet tender hug. “I’m sorry” whispered the magi-cat.

It took about a minute for Adora to gather her thoughts after that and when she finally did all she could get out was a, “Catra, what are you- “?

Releasing the hug, Catra kept her eyes shielded with her hair and muttered. “It’s because of me that you lost her.” That statement shook Adora, but Catra only continued. “I spent all that time hating She-ra for taking you from me. Trying whatever I could to get rid of her. Throwing your sword off of a cliff, corrupting it, using it to wipe everything out, but you always ended right back up as that glowing eye sore. Then, when I finally start to accept that you’ll always be She-ra, the sword gets destroyed just to save me. The person who was always trying to destroy it. It’s because of me that you’re like this now.” Catra followed this with a chuckle. “Guess it’s just another reason for you to hate me, huh?”

Adora attempted to close the space between them. “Catra, I could never- “

Said girl held up her arm. “Don’t lie to yourself Adora. I did so many terrible things to you, your friends, innocent people, the whole world really. Do you honestly expect that I think anyone will ever be able to forgive me? If I spend the rest of my life rotting away in some dungeon. I still won’t be able to look you in the eye again and call us friends. Your friends will never see me as the person who saved the world, instead of the one who nearly ended it time and time again.” The magi-cat walked over to a nearby tree and slumped against it. “And honestly, I wouldn’t blame them. Even Scorpia should hate me for pushing her away. I’m so tired Adora. Tired of the fighting, of the hate, of everything really. That’s why I’ve decided to leave.”

“Leave!?” shouted Adora suddenly. “Catra how can you leave after everything you’ve worked towards? I know you’ve done bad things, but you’ve done nothing but incredible stuff since you left the horde. You managed to find Micah, bring Angella back, stop Shadow Weaver from taking over Brightmoon, and you just saved me from dying at the hands of Horde Prime. You’ve done more than enough to redeem yourself.”

“It doesn’t matter Adora,” muttered Catra. “Even if you and everyone else can manage to forgive me, I can’t forgive myself. So, I’m leaving, but before I go, I want to try and snap you out of this ridiculous haze you’re in.”

Adora gritted her teeth at that. “It’s not a ridiculous haze Catra I lost- “!

“A part of you. I get it” interrupted Catra, “but you don’t need She-ra to be strong, to celebrate with your friends the end of a war we were born into. Because She-ra wasn’t the one who decided that the right thing to do was leave the Horde behind. She wasn’t the one who defended Brightmoon from a huge army. And she definitely wasn’t the one who overcame her demons to save the world.” Adora’s eyes widened at that, knowing full well that when Catra said demons, that she was referring to herself. “That was all you Adora. You’re the one who lead the Rebellion through all those battles. You’re the one who tamed the creatures on Beast Island to save Entrapta. It wasn’t She-ra who faced down Horde Prime; the universe’s most feared conqueror, it was all you.” Catra ended that long speech by approached Adora, placing her hands upon the girl’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes with the most meaningful expression that the blonde had ever seen her friend give. “So please; stop doubting yourself. You’re more than just some ridiculous legendary warrior, you’re the real hero of this story and maybe it’s time that people remember that.”

Adora couldn’t help her eyes tearing up at the and she quickly embraced her friend, crying into her shoulder. Catra slightly winced at the arms tightening around her burn mark, but she knew how much this meant to Adora and just let the hug happen. ‘Man, I hate hugs’ thought Catra. It was after two or three minutes though that Catra finally decided to gently push the girl away. “Alright, alright. Stop bawling before you get snot on my fur” said Catra, not being able to look at her friend’s sad face. “Now go and celebrate with your friends and stop being so, not you.”

Catra began to turn away and leave before a hand firmly gripped her wrist. “You’re seriously the one who’s going to say that I’m not acting like myself right now?” asked Adora, jokingly. “You’re the one who’s all self-defeating and whimpering right now. What happened to the smug, confidant, and cunning Catra that I always had to fight?”

“She got humbled when you kicked her butt all over Etheria” replied Catra.

“Well I don’t know about you, but I liked snarky Catra and would love to travel Etheria with her” stated Adora, causing Catra to spin around and stare at her friend’s genuine smile.

“What are you saying?” asked Catra hesitantly.

“I’m saying that I’m coming with you” answered Adora. “You’re right Catra; I’m tired too. I love my friends, the Rebellion, and Brightmoon is the closest thing I’ve ever had to a real home, but at the end of the day I’m a soldier. We were raised to fight and that’s exactly what we’ve done all our lives. Whether it was for the Horde, Rebellion, or whatever it’s all we really know. I mean, I still sleep with a knife under my pillow! But, at the end of the day, without She-ra. I’m not sure exactly how much help I could be to them. I could help rebuild sure, but She-ra was the shining become of hope that gave everyone hope and without her.” Adora shook her head to clear away the self-doubt that was beginning to form over her mind once more. “Anyways, I’m confident that the princesses can take things from here. Without the Horde causing trouble, it should be easy goings to rebuild what was lost. They don’t need me here,” the blonde said before she placed her grabbed the other girl’s hand with her own and squeezed comfortingly. “But you do. I’m not about to leave you behind a second time.”

Catra flushed at the confession and attempted to hide it behind laughter. “Oh man, that was so corny!” Adora was surprised at first but soon found herself laughing too.

“Hey, I had to come up with something to wash away your sap” laughed Adora, and the two continued like that for another minute before calming down.

Catra then looked at Adora with a serious expression. “Are you sure about this Adora? Do you really want to leave your friends and life here behind? Just for me?”

Adora smiled resolutely, taking one look back at the celebration. “Yeah, I’m sure. You need me more than they do right now. So, you’re going to be stuck with me until I get my snarky best friend back.”

“Oh joy. This adventure is sure to be fun with little miss goody two shoes following me around” said Catra, with no actual venom in her words and a smile on her face.

“Hey, I’ll have you know that I caused plenty of trouble for the Rebellion. Do you know how many times I’ve disobeyed Angella?” asked Adora.

“I thought that was all Glimmer?” asked Catra.

“Well, yeah, but I helped her do those things” said Adora, embarrassed now that she couldn’t prove Catra wrong. “Honestly though, I think this could be good for us. Maybe getting away from all of this fighting and actually doing what we want, exploring the world like we planned, maybe it will help us find someplace we can be happy.”

Catra smiled and rolled her eyes playfully. ‘Leave it to Adora to say what I’m thinking’ she thought, before turning to walk away. “Well come on then before your friends come looking for us.”

Adora smiled at the magi-cats retreating form before she looked back on more time at the partner and smiled sadly. “Sorry everyone. I would love to say goodbye, but you’d probably just try and talk me into staying.” With that Adora made one last resolve and thrusted the Sword of Protection’s remaining blade into the ground up until the guard and ran after her friend.

Catra glanced back and; after seeing the sword decided to make a sign of her own, before removing her head piece, something she hadn’t been without for years and toss it back towards the sword. The piece managing to snag on the guard and spin around it before coming to rest and simple hanging on the jutting piece of metal. “Show off” teased Adora.

Catra shrugged and slung her arm around her companion’s shoulders. “Hey, can’t have you stealing all of the spotlight, right?” And with that, the two disappeared into the Whispering Woods. Leaving their old lives behind to begin new ones together.

\- Back in the present

“And that’s it really. Catra and I wandered around Etheria for a few years before we found this little hamlet. It wasn’t much back then, just a few farms, untouched by the war and no one recognized us, so we decided to stay here until the traveling bug bite us again. Except it never did, we ended up helping this place grow from a hamlet to a village, settled down together, got married, had Mara, and we’ve been happy here ever since. Catra now leads the hunters here and I run the inn.” With her story finished, Adora finally looked back at her friend to find the queen flabbergasted.

“So, it was your idea to leave?” asked Glimmer in shock, before turning back to Catra, who had a snoozing Mara on her lap, probably tuckered out from the large meal and story. “And you actually tried to convince her to stay?”

“Surprised Twinkle?” said Catra with a smug grin that was quickly washed away by her wife’s glare.

“I’m sorry Glimmer” apologized Adora. “It was never anything against you or anyone else in the Rebellion. I just needed some time to sort some stuff out, away from all the fighting that I’d been surrounded with my entire life. Horde AND Rebellion.”

Glimmer folded her hands on her lap and stared down at the solemnly. “No, I get it. I grew up in war too, losing my dad, then my mom, then getting them both back. It was weird for us to just be a whole family again. I’m just glad that you’re happy now is all, and that I know you’re alive” finished Glimmer, before a clawed hand reached out to cover her own.

“Hey. If it’s any consolation, she still thinks about you guys everyday” stated Catra softly. ‘God, being a mom has seriously dulled my bite’ she thought begrudgingly.

“I do” confirmed Adora, wrapping her friend up in a hug.

Once the hug was finished, Glimmer took a deep breath to steady herself and stood up. “Listen Adora, I forgive you for leaving like that, but you need to let me at least tell the others. I promise that we won’t start hounding you to come back to Brightmoon or anything, but everyone would be so happy to at least be able to come and visit you.”

Adora smiled but glanced over at Catra to see that crestfallen expression before said woman stood up and began to take Mara upstairs to her room. ‘I understand that this is exactly what you were afraid of Catra, but they at least deserve this’ she thought before standing up herself. “Alright Glimmer. You can let everyone know that I’m here and I’d be more than happy to see them, just please keep us out of the Alliance. Alright? I’ve made a wonderful life here and we can’t afford to uproot it just so I can be the “woman who defeated Horde Prime again.”

Glimmer was slightly saddened at the fact that Adora wanted to stay put, so far from Brightmoon, but she was just happy that her friend had agreed. “Alright Adora. Now I should probably hurry back to my guards though, we’re already late for the Alliance meeting in Frosta’s castle, and I don’t want to keep them up all night.”

Adora led her friend out of the front door and they shared one final hug before Glimmer began to walk off. She spared one more glance and wave at the blonde before seeing Catra watching from the doorway. The magi-cat grinning before playfully sticking her tongue out at the winged woman causing said woman to lose her smile and groan. “Why do you always have to be so frustrating!”

“Just part of my charm Sprinkle” teased Catra.

“You’re not even trying with the names now!” shouted Glimmer.

Adora laughed before she started pushing her wife back into the house. “Come on you, stop teasing the queen and let’s finish up that dinner.” With that, Adora closed the door, sparing her friend one last smile and wave before she vanished from sight. Turning around though Adora was met by her love’s troubled expression.

“You know that this is going to end badly. Right?” she asked, in a quiet but powerful resignation.

Adora smiled and cupped one side of Catra’s face tenderly, allowing the other woman to nuzzle in comfortingly. “I trust Glimmer to keep her work Catra. I promise that we won’t leave this home until we’re old and gray.”

“Not exactly the way I’d like to go, but I guess it’s better than the last time” chuckled Catra.

“Not funny Catra” said Adora firmly, before walking to the kitchen and leaving her lover behind.

“Aww come on, I came back didn’t I!” exclaimed Catra, careful not to wake the snoozing girl upstairs. She then groaned and spared one more glance at the door. “This isn’t going to be fun” muttered Catra before following the blonde into the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry if they seemed to ooc, but again I figured that time, love, and having a daughter could change them. The one thing I wasn't sure about was Adora's sudden decision to leave the Rebellion, so please let me know your thoughts on that; along with the rest of it, as again, I absolutely LOVE to read comments. Thx for reading and hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, this will probably be the weakest chapter of the fic and honestly I wasn't exactly comfortable writing it. If you enjoyed it though, please let me know and help me stay motivated in seeing this story through to the end. If not, then please be gentle with the criticism as there's a reason I have written nothing in so long and it's not a pleasant memory. Anyway, the Catradora fluff will be in full swing next chapter, and I'm really hoping to get it out to you all soon. Thx for reading!


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